Always and Forever
by Ridire
Summary: Sirius Black kept his silence, and, in the end, it was enough to prove his dying loyalty to Lily Evans, James Potter, and their son, Harry. A short little vignette about that first fateful meeting between the two boys, to the last, bitter ending of a lonely, failure of a man.


_Disclaimer:_ I own nothing.

_A/N: Short one right here. Warning: Three, total of three, swearwords. They're the F-bomb, to be precise._

He met James Potter on the Hogwarts Express, when he stumbled upon him exchanging insults and colored sparks from wands. He stepped in, as always an upright, forward facing Black, should, and offered his aid. "Problem I could resolve, Potter, new-blood?"

"Yeah," Potter growled, never taking eyes off the kid- long black hair –it looked greasy –and kept his wand on him. "_Severus_, here, has an interesting text. It's about the Dark Arts." Sirius cocked an eye, and drew his own.

"The Dark Arts, eh? You know what I think of those, Potter?" With a slow smile, Sirius leveled his wand at the kid.

"What'd you think of those, Black?" Potter looked up at Sirius, when he saw him holding Severus at wandpoint as well.

"They're damn well _wrong._ Get out of here, Severus. Gryffindors don't hold much truck with the dark arts." The kid ran, then, and Sirius took the seat across from James, and the rest, as they say, is history. Or is it?

They first saw her at the sorting. James declared he'd marry her, one day. Sirius laughed and shot sparks at James from his wand. James kept thinking about her. Sirius Black wouldn't give her another thought, except as "That damned bird what's keeping Jamie distracted."

Third year came, and Sirius realized he was madly in love her with, with no rhyme or reason for why. He didn't make his feelings for her known to anyone. He and James had sworn a blood-brotherhood oath over a bonfire on Midsummer's Noon. What stronger bond was there? So Sirius let it be- Lily Evans was James Potter's to woo or lose, but Sirius'd be there for James, come Hell or highwater.

Fifth year came, and Severus Snape tried to shoot a Killing Curse at Jamie's back. Sirius saved his life, then, with a quick bit of Transfiguration on a conjured piece of marble, and vowed unending blood feud on Snape. He didn't tell Jamie, though. James' parents had recently gotten sick with dragon pox, and he had more important things on his mind. Maybe Remus could help out with the Snape problem.

End of sixth year, and Snape called Lily "mudblood." If it hadn't been for Jamie hexing him first, Sirius would have ripped Snape to shreds with his bare hands.

Jamie's parents died that summer. Sirius was there for him, and then they went back to Hogwarts. He'd let Lily Evans be, Jamie decided one evening while they got pissed. His parents were dead, and he had more important things to worry about.

Seventh year. Lily fell for Jamie. Sirius kept his distance, ever the protective, gentlemanly, courteous blood-brother of her boyfriend, even as it ripped him apart inside. He longed to crush her against himself and kiss her, but it'd tear Jamie apart. So Sirius suffered, and glad, for it- Jamie had suffered for him, saving Snape during fifth year. Sirius vowed to protect Lily as he protected James.

They were married a year after Hogwarts, and while it nearly killed him, the crushing _void_ in his chest, Sirius stood next to Jamie, best man, groom, blood-brother, and gave his best friend to the one, and only, he was certain, love of his life. Tears slid down his eyes, but tears of joy or sadness, he'd never be able to tell.

When he'd think about, in between bouts of drinking himself senseless and then forcing himself to carry one, Sirius would wonder how he'd come to this level. And then he'd remember it was _Lily,_ and he'd go back to drinking.

And then he got Albus' Patronus, and he was at Godric's Hollow before Hagrid, putting out the fire, searching, desperately, for little Harry. Lily was dead and oh Merlin and Morgana and Mordred that hurt, but only slightly less so than James –he cut that line of thought off in favor of cuddling Harry, finally, soothing his tears, kissing the top of his head, swearing and ranting at life, Voldemort, and Pettigrew.

"Here, Hagrid. I don't want to let him go, but –there's something I need to do. I'll pick him up from Albus tomorrow morning."

He hadn't. He'd gone after Pettigrew, the fucking traitor. The void in his chest from Lily picking Jamie was gone, now, replaced by a burning need for violence, to maybe, just maybe, help heal the raw, jagged hole left in his heart by his blood-brother-and-sister-by-law's deaths.

Sirius cornered Pettigrew on a Muggle street in Cumbria. Pettigrew drew his wand, and then- all he'd be able to remember, in Azkaban, would be the misery the dementors left him.

He found the will to live again when he learned Harry was alive and attending Hogwarts. A small fire lit in his chest, and he felt a fierce pride, and a determination. Determination to escape, and be the godfather he should have been, even as he mourned Lily and James. He could do no less for the son of the woman he'd loved and the man he'd almost killed as a school-boy for.

Escape was easy. Evasion was easy. What wasn't easy was seeing fucking _James_ staring back at him with green eyes. He almost broke, then, but a fierce anger at Pettigrew and a desire to protect Harry kept him from doing so.

Finally- finally- Pettigrew was done for, captured, Stunned, finished! But _fucking_ Snape ruined it, like he always did, and Sirius swore he'd see the man dead somehow, someway.

In the end, Sirius would die before Snape, but that was okay. He'd suffered twelve years in Azkaban, and three on the run, for the chance to save Harry. He'd finally, finally, succeeded, and was going to see Lily and Jamie again. He hoped they'd forgive him for failing so often, in that one, eternal instant he had before he fell through the Veil.

_A/N:_ What'd you think? Please leave a review, if you're so inclined. For those interested, I'm currently working on the first chapter of an AU Fourth Year.

Short little selling hook: Sirius, instead of simply fleeing, takes Harry with him during his escape. They spend the summer on the run together, and Sirius, recognizing Harry doesn't need a parent, becomes more of a mentor for him. Introduced to this is Jupiter Robicheaux, a Confederate from North America, tasked by his government and the ICW with determining exactly what's taking Britain so long to resolve the issue of an escaped mass-murdered, a disappeared school-child, and the Tri-Wizard Tournament being changed from Durmstrang to Hogwarts at the last minute.


End file.
